Raúl Esparza, Matt Dunphy, and DJ Chris Roxx highlight of FAWC’s 2024 Summer Celebration
The Fine Arts Work Center is pleased to present the 2024 Summer Awards Celebration on Saturday, July 13th. This annual event held at the Pilgrim Monument is a true summer highlight on the Cape, featuring cocktail hour over sweeping views of the Provincetown harbor, a delicious farm to table dinner, and an exciting new slate of entertainment each year. This year, we gather to honor the achievements of National Book Award winning poet Terrance Hayes; printmaker and beloved President of our Board of Trustees, Lynne Kortenhaus; and renowned multi-media artist Jacolby Satterwhite, recent recipient of a Great Hall Commission at The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
We are thrilled to host special guest Raúl Esparza, a celebrated actor of both screen and stage, who has been named one of Broadway’s most acclaimed leading men of the 21st century, and is particularly known for his interpretation of Stephen Sondheim’s work. A recipient of an Obie award, Theater World Award, and three Drama Desk awards, Esparza holds the rare distinction of earning Tony nominations in all four acting categories for which a performer is eligible. His notable screen credits include Hannibal, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Murder at the End of the World, Candy, Dopesick, The Path, BoJack Horseman, and Pushing Daisies.
Guiding us through the evening is our host Matt Dunphy, a lifelong performer and native of Cambridge, Massachusetts. Dunphy has hosted events in partnership with the Boston Red Sox and the Red Sox Foundation, the MSPCA, Macy’s, and Bloomingdale’s, and in his role as an actor, has performed at the Kennedy Center, Arena Stage, the Folger Shakespeare Library, and Dubrovnik Summer Festival in Croatia. His TV and film work includes several national commercials, voiceover work for The Discovery Channel, and a brief appearance in Philip Roth’s The Human Stain.
Providing tunes for the evening, as we move from cocktail hour, to seated dinner, to espresso martini bar, we have staple of the Boston entertainment scene, DJ Chris Roxx. Roxx has performed in guest spots at some of Boston’s hottest venues, including Bootleg Special, STK, Metro, and Mariel, among others.
We couldn’t be more excited for what the evening has in store! Tickets are still available for purchase here, for those who’d like to join us for a night of exceptional entertainment, delectable food, and the opportunity to mingle with leading lights in the arts and culture world. By attending the Summer Awards Celebration, you will be helping to raise funds for the Fine Arts Work Center, ensuring the continued longevity of our prestigious Fellowship program, and our ability to provide free arts programming to the Outer Cape Community all year round. We hope to see you there!
Raúl Esparza is an American stage and screen actor, recently starring as Galileo Galilei in Galileo in the dazzling world-premiere musical at Berkeley Repertory Theatre, helmed by Tony Award winner Michael Mayer (Spring Awakening, American Idiot) and written by two-time Emmy winner Danny Strong (Dopesick, Empire, The Butler). Since making his Broadway debut as Riff Raff in The Rocky Horror Show in 1999, Esparza has become one of Broadway’s most acclaimed leading men of the 21st century and one of the most revered interpreters of Stephen Sondheim’s work. For his accomplishments, Esparza was the second performer in theater history, and only one of five overall, to receive Tony nominations in all four acting categories a performer is eligible in: Taboo (Featured Actor in a Musical); Company (Actor in a Musical for); The Homecoming (Featured Actor in a Play); and Speed-the-Plow (Actor in a Play). His additional Broadway credits include lead roles in Leap of Faith, Arcadia, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, and Cabaret.
Off-Broadway, Esparza originated the role of Jonathan Larson in 2001 in tick, tick… BOOM!. His other off-Broadway credits include Oliver! (as Fagin in the first New York City revival in almost 40 years), Seared, Road Show, The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui, Cymbeline, The Cradle Will Rock, Twelfth Night, The Normal Heart (as Ned Weeks in the first major revival since the original production), and Comedians. His other notable theater credits include heralded turns as both Charley in Merrily We Roll Along and Georges Seurat in Sunday in the Park with George at the Kennedy Center’s 2002 Sondheim Celebration series, Che in the 20th anniversary national tour of Evita, The Waves, and Chess. For his theater work, he is the recipient of an Obie, a Theater World Award, and three Drama Desk Awards, among others.
On screen, Esparza is best known for his acclaimed regular/recurring roles as Dr. Frederick Chilton on NBC’s Hannibal (2013-15) and Assistant District Attorney Rafael Barba on NBC’s Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (2012-18). His other notable TV credits include Murder at the End of the World, Candy, Dopesick, The Path, BoJack Horseman, and Pushing Daisies. On film, his credits include Ferdinand, Custody, Trouble in the Heights, Georgetown, My Soul to Take, and Sidney Lumet’s Find Me Guilty.
In 2020, in the immediate wake of the COVID-19 global pandemic, Esparza conceived of, executive produced, and performed in the online concert event Take Me to the World: A Sondheim 90th Birthday Celebration on Broadway.com, to raise funds for Arts Ignite (formerly ASTEP, Artists Striving to End Poverty). Honoring the legendary composer for his milestone birthday—and entirely produced at home during the nation’s lockdown—the event has accumulated over 4 millions views and and featured over 30 recorded performances, including Meryl Streep, Bernadette Peters, Patti Lupone, Mandy Patinkin, Audra McDonald, Christine Baranski, Sutton Foster, Kelli O’Hara, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Donna Murphy, and many more. The concert received a special Drama League Award for Outstanding Digital Concert Production; citations as a “Best of 2020” program from The New York Times, The Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, NPR’s Fresh Air, and The New Yorker; and is now preserved in the Library of Congress.
As a lifelong performer, purveyor, and supporter of the arts, Matt Dunphy is pleased to join the Fine Arts Work Center for the 2024 Summer Awards Program. A native of Cambridge, Massachusetts, Matt got his start after writing a letter to Continental Cablevision, suggesting they give him his own TV show. Shortly thereafter, Matt was hosting BeLive with Matt on Cambridge Community Television every Thursday at 4:30 at age 12 and the rest is history.
Matt has hosted events in partnership with the Boston Red Sox and the Red Sox Foundation, the MSPCA, Macy’s, and Bloomingdale’s, among others. As an actor, Matt has performed at the Kennedy Center, Arena Stage, the Folger Shakespeare Library, and many others, including an international appearance at the Dubrovnik Summer Festival in Croatia. His TV and film work includes several national commercials, voiceover work for The Discovery Channel, and a brief appearance in Philip Roth’s The Human Stain.
Matt has a BA from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and an MFA from The Catholic University of America in Washington, DC. Aside from theater performance, Matt also plays the piano and the clarinet. Matt lives between Boston and New York City but remains a proud New Englander in all ways that one can be: driving ability, sports teams, coffee brand, and chowder color.
A prominent figure in Boston as a DJ/MC/Entertainer, DJ Chris Roxx has been doing what he loves for over 15 years: creating electrifying soundtracks for all types of events and nightlife venues. The sounds of Chris Roxx can be enjoyed by an intimate group of 50 to the 50,000+ fans at Gillette for a Patriots or Revolution game. From Boston to NYC, all the way to the Caribbean islands, he’s shared his musical talents. Roxx local DJs guest spots at some of Boston’s hottest venues, including Bootleg Special, STK, Metro, and Mariel to name a few. His music style encompasses the entire musical spectrum; anywhere from Motown to current Top 40 hits, mixed to perfection.
When Chris is out of the DJ booth, he enjoys an active health and fitness lifestyle, traveling with friends, and time with family.
